Freight container with doors

ABSTRACT

There is provided a collapsible container for transporting goods. An exemplary container comprises a floor and a plurality of side walls adjacent to the floor. At least one first side wall has at least one door for loading and unloading the container, and at least one side wall adjacent to the door has at least one guide rail arranged essentially horizontally for swiveling the door and for sliding the door along the guide rail, in such a way that, by lifting the door. The door can be moved in the guide rail without it being possible for the door hinge to be removed from the guide rail, and in this state, the door can be slid along the guide rail parallel to the side wall, so that the door hinge is also attached to the door so as to rotate around a vertical axis of rotation. The guide rail has on the front a cutout through which a sliding guide installed on the inside of the door engages into the guide rail for purposes of preventing the door from tilting when it is slid along the guide rail, and the sliding guide is guided by the guide rail during the further movement.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application claims priority to European (EP) Patent Application No.09 014 834.7, filed on Nov. 30, 2009, the contents of which areincorporated by reference as if set forth in their entirety herein.

BACKGROUND

Freight containers have to be loaded and unloaded quickly, as a resultof which they usually have a side wall that can either be completelyremoved, collapsed or opened in the form of a door. In the case of aside wall that functions as a door, the way in which this door can beopened is of crucial importance for fast loading and unloading. Theperson skilled in the art is familiar with various door mountings. Doorsare generally opened or closed on hinges that only allow the door toswivel, or else on rollers and rails that only allow the door to slide.As an alternative, the hinges can also be mounted so as to slide. Withthe latter construction, the door can easily be inadvertently moved outof its closed position. Moreover, this construction is less resistant tomechanical stresses on the inside and/or outside of the door. In thecase of collapsible freight containers, the door mountings also have tobe suitable to allow the freight containers to be collapsed.

SUMMARY

Exemplary embodiments of the present invention relate to a freightcontainer with doors that are sturdy and easy to operate.

Moreover, exemplary embodiments relate to a collapsible freightcontainer having at least one door that can be opened and closed easilyand reliably.

A collapsible container for transporting goods according to an exemplaryembodiment, comprises a floor and a plurality of side walls, preferablyfour side walls, encompassing a transport volume that is defined in theset-up state by the top, preferably a rectangular top, of the floor, andby the insides of the side walls, whereby at least one first side wallhas at least one door for loading and unloading the container, and atleast one side wall adjacent to the door has at least one guide railarranged essentially horizontally for swiveling the door and for slidingthe door along the guide rail, whereby the door engages vertically via apin into a first hole or into a first depression in the guide rail onone door hinge per guide rail so as to swivel, and the guide rail isconfigured in such a way that, by lifting the door, the pin can beremoved from the first hole or from the first depression without itbeing possible for the door hinge to be removed from the guide rail, andin this state, the door can be slid along the guide rail parallel to theside wall, so that the inside of the door faces the outside of the sidewall, so that the door hinge is also attached so as to rotate around avertical axis of rotation, and so that the guide rail has a cutout onthe front, preferably a vertical slot, through which a sliding guideinstalled on the inside of the door engages into the guide rail, and thesliding guide is guided by the guide rail during the further movement.

Here, the pin that engages into the guide rail is part of the door hingethat, as seen in the horizontal direction, extends around the side wallin order to engage into the guide rail. Due to the door hinge, which islikewise rotatably mounted on the door, the distance between the doorand the side wall can be minimized when the door is being slid along theguide rail. Preferably, the door slides along the guide rail when it isbeing moved. The sliding guide, which engages into the guide rail,effectively prevents a tilting of the door when it is being slid alongthe guide rail.

The word “door” is intended to encompass all types of doors, forexample, doors with a homogeneously continuous door surface, doors withcutouts in the door surface, or doors that consist of a door frame andan inner surface within the door frame. In the case of doors with doorframes, the inner surface can be made of a compact material or of agrid. Within the scope of this invention, the person skilled in the artcan consider additional configurations. The material of the door may bea sturdy material in order to resist the loads during the freighttransport. The door may be configured as a frame and the inner surfaceis configured as a grid made of steel, preferably hardened steel and/orstainless steel such as high-grade steel or VA steel. The configurationof the inner surface as a grid accounts for a reduction in the weight ofthe freight container in comparison to freight containers with soliddoors. As an alternative, the inside could also be made of a compositematerial that is likewise characterized by its high strength and lowweight.

According to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, the otherside walls can have any suitable form and configuration. Preferably, theside walls are configured as side walls with posts that are arranged atthe corners of the floor and with a grid that is arranged between theposts. Preferably, the grid and the posts, especially preferably poststhat are hollow on the inside, are made of steel, preferably of hardenedsteel and/or stainless steel such as high-grade steel or VA steel. Thegrid and the posts, which are optionally hollow on the inside, accountfor a reduction in the weight of the freight container in comparison tofreight containers with solid side walls. As an alternative, the sidewalls, especially the parts of the side wall between the posts of oneside wall, could also be made of a composite material that is likewisecharacterized by its high strength and low weight.

In order to collapse the container, the side walls can be folded ontothe floor of the container using hinges. Preferably, the hinges arearranged on the posts of the side walls. The person skilled in the artis familiar with many possible hinges with which a collapsible containercan be created. For example, bushings are arranged on the corners of thefloor into which the posts can penetrate in order to set up the sidewalls. The posts are affixed, for example, via a screw or a bolt in avertical slot in the bushing in such a way that the posts can be liftedup along the slot so that the side walls can be folded down in thedirection of the floor and can be folded down onto the floor or in thedirection of the floor due to the appropriately shaped inside of thebushing. In this manner, for the sake of transport safety, the sidewalls remain firmly joined to the floor, also when the container isbeing transported in the collapsed state. Here, the length of the slotdetermines the variability in the order in which the side walls arefolded down onto the floor. If the slots in all of the bushings are longenough, the side walls can be folded down onto the floor in any randomorder. Here, the first side wall is folded directly down onto the floor.The next side wall is lifted up in the bushing along the slot above thefirst side wall until it can be folded down onto the first side wall inthe direction of the floor. The remaining side walls followcorrespondingly. Here, it is random which side wall is joined to a door.The side wall that is joined to a door is folded down with the door,which has been slid in the guide rail in front of the outside of theside wall onto the floor or onto a previously folded-down side wall. Forpurposes of the folding-down procedure, the bushings with the slot donot have a bushing wall in the folding direction of the side walls. Inone exemplary embodiment, the posts as well as the bushings have arectangular shape, whereby the rectangular shape of the bushings isadapted to the rectangular shape of the posts that are arranged in thebushings. A slot here refers to an elongated bore or groove. Its narrowsides are closed off by semi-circles. The collapsed container requiresless transport volume so that the empty container can be transportedmore efficiently, that is to say, with more containers per transportvolume.

According to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, the floorof the container can have any suitable shape and configuration,preferably with a flat loading surface. Preferably, the floor comprisesa frame in which a grid is arranged as the loading floor. The grid andthe frame, which here is especially preferably a frame that is hollow onthe inside, are made of steel, preferably of hardened steel and/orstainless steel such as high-grade steel or VA steel. The grid and theframe, which is optionally hollow on the inside, account for a reductionin the weight of the freight container in comparison to freightcontainers with solid floors. As an alternative, the floor, especiallythe part of the floor between the frame, could also be made of acomposite material that is likewise characterized by its high strengthand low weight.

The term “inside” refers to the sides of the side walls and to the doorsthat face in the direction of the goods loaded in the container.Accordingly, the term “outside” refers to the sides of the side wallsand of the doors that face away from the container.

The term “guide rail” encompasses any type of guide rails that aresuitable for moving door hinges without the door hinges being able tocome out of the guide rail. This prevents the door from being lost ordamaged. The guide rails have, for example, a grooved shape on at leastone side (top or bottom) and an enclosing, or at least delimiting,opposite side, so that the door hinge cannot be removed from the guiderail either towards the top or towards the bottom. The terms top andbottom refer to the directions that are opposite from the floor orfacing the floor. An essential horizontal arrangement of the guide railrefers to an orientation of the guide rail that only diverges by just afew degrees from an ideal parallel orientation of the guide rail withrespect to the loading surface of the floor. Here, a guide rail can bemade of any material that is suitable to securely guide doors.Preferably, the guide rails and/or the door hinges are made of steel,preferably hardened steel and/or stainless steel such as high-gradesteel or VA steel. Steel allows, for example, the guide rails to bewelded onto the container if the latter is likewise made of steel (atleast the posts). As an alternative, the guide rails and/or the doorhinges could also be made of a composite material that is characterizedby its high strength and low weight. In this case, the guide rails wouldbe screwed onto the side walls. The person skilled in the art can alsoconsider alternatives for attaching the guide rails to the side walls,according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

The term “front” refers here to the end of the guide rail that faces thesame side as the outside of the door in the closed state.Correspondingly, the rear of the guide rail refers to the side that isopposite from the front, that is to say, the other side of the guiderail. The front part of the guide rail is the part of the guide railthat is close to the front of the guide rail. Correspondingly, the rearpart of the guide rail is the part of the guide rail that is close tothe rear of the guide rail. The term “close to” refers to a distance ofa few centimeters.

The term “cutout” refers here to a gap on the front of the guide rail,which is suitable to allow a sliding guide of the door to pass throughinto the guide rail. The guide rail of the door is slid into the guiderail through the cutout when the door is being slid. The geometric shapeof the cutout is preferably adapted to the geometric shape of thesliding guide. In one exemplary embodiment, the cutout is a slit.According to an exemplary embodiment of the invention, the personskilled in the art can also consider other geometrical shapes for thecutout. In one exemplary embodiment, the cutout widens in the directionof the front. This widening makes it easier to slide the sliding guideinto the cutout. Here, the sliding guide does not have to precisely comeinto contact with the cutout when it is being slid in, but rather anerroneous positioning of the sliding guide is tolerated by the widenedcutout and it is corrected along the tapering of the cutout so that thesliding guide can be slid into the guide rail. The widening of thecutout can extend in the horizontal direction as well as in the verticaldirection.

The term “sliding guide” here refers to all kinds of guides that aresuitable to give the door additional stability in a guide rail, in orderto prevent the door from tilting when it is being slid. For thispurpose, the sliding guide has to engage into the guide rail in asuitable manner. Suitable forms of the sliding guide are, for example,angle brackets with a horizontal leg that is attached perpendicularly tothe door frame, and a vertical leg that is positioned on the horizontalleg and that extends parallel to the door frame at a suitable distance.This vertical leg is inserted through a vertical slit as a cutout intothe guide rail, and its sliding on the bottom part of the guide railprevents tilting of the door in the direction of the floor by the forceof gravity acting on the door. As an alternative, in the case ofdifferently configured guide rails, for example, with a U-shaped profileat the bottom, the vertical leg of the sliding guide, together with theupwards-facing outer leg of the U-shaped profile, can prevent the doorfrom swiveling away from the side wall when the door is being slid alongthe guide rail. Here, the vertical leg can either slide on the bottom ofthe guide rail, or, as an alternative, the horizontal leg of the guiderail can slide on the upwards-facing outer leg of the guide rail. Bothapproaches effectively prevent the door from tilting when the door isslid along the guide rail. The sliding guide can be made of any materialthat allows repeated sliding on the guide rail. Preferably, the guiderail is made of steel, preferably hardened steel and/or stainless steelsuch as high-grade steel or VA steel, so as to be suitable for repeateduse. As an alternative, the sliding guide could also be made of acomposite material that is likewise characterized by its high strength.Depending on the material of the sliding guide, it can be welded orscrewed to the door frame, or else attached in some other manner.

According to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, the doorhinge is configured as a rod that is bent multiple times. The term “rod”here refers to any elongated shapes that are suitable to form a doorhinge. The rod as set forth in this invention can have differentthicknesses or cross sections, whereby a circular cross section ispreferred. This rod is attached to the door, preferably to the doorframe, and, as seen in the horizontal direction, it extends around theside wall. The term “as seen in the horizontal direction” does not referto the horizontal orientation of the rod, but rather, to the directionin which the rod encircles the side wall. Here, the rod extends aroundthe posts of the side wall and, in one exemplary embodiment, it extendsa few centimeters beyond the posts along the side wall. In order toanchor the door hinge, configured here, for example, as a rod that isbent multiple times, the rod is bent with respect to the side wall by90° downwards in the direction of the floor and it extends a fewcentimeters in this direction. This vertical part of the door hinge isreferred to here as a pin. The lower end of the pin can have a flat sideor a semispherical curvature. The pin engages into a first hole or intoa first depression in the guide rail so as to rotate freely. The door isthus held by its weight in the guide rail via the door hinge, so that noadditional fasteners are needed to firmly hold the door. The arrangementof the pin in the first hole or in the first depression firmly affixesthe door hinge in the horizontal direction in the guide rail, while thedoor hinge can be moved vertically via the pin, and can also be removedfrom the first hole or from the first depression by lifting (raising)the door. However, the guide rail is configured here in such a way thatthe door hinge that has been removed from the first hole or from thefirst depression cannot fall out of (be taken out of) the guide rail.

In one exemplary embodiment, the door hinge is rotatably mounted on thedoor as a vertical pin in a bushing that is attached to the door andthat has an inner diameter that is adapted to the pin, whereby the pinis configured in such a way that it is affixed to the bushing in thevertical direction. The pin can be tapered in the area of the bushing,and the bushing can have a diameter that is adapted to the tapered pin,so that the pin can rotate freely in the bushing without being movedvertically with respect to the bushing. As an alternative, the pin couldalso be attached to the bushing by a bolt or splint-pin above and belowthe bushing. In such an exemplary embodiment, the pin is, for example,the one end of a rod that is bent multiple times, that is bent above thebushing by 90° into a horizontal plane, so that it extends in thedirection of the side wall, and, in the further extension of the rod,said rod is bent by 90°, once again in the horizontal direction, inorder to extend around the front corner of the side wall, and in thefurther extension, said rod makes a third 90° bend in the verticaldirection in order to engage as a pin at its other end into the firsthole or into the first depression of the guide rail. These bends can beconfigured at a right angle or with a curved radius.

Due to the door hinge, which is mounted so as to rotate (swivel) in theguide rail and mounted on the door, the distance between the door andthe side wall can be varied when the door is slid along the guide rail.In particular, the door can thus be slid close to the guide rail or—incontact with the guide rail—along the guide rail. Here, it isadvantageous for the door to be slid along the guide rail in directcontact with the guide rail. In this manner, the door can be slid infront of the side wall with the smallest possible space requirement sothat, in order to save space, containers of this type are placed closenext to each other for an optimized loading and unloading operation in alogistics center, while the doors can still be opened and closed asdesired. In order to configure the placement of the containers close toeach other even more optimally, the guide rails of containers withdouble-leaf doors are arranged at a different height on the left-handside wall than on the right-hand side wall. In this configuration, thecontainers can be placed especially close next to each other,door-to-door, without the door hinges of adjacent containers that mightproject beyond the doors (in contact with the guide rails) preventingthe placement of adjacent containers directly door-to-door because oftheir coming into contact with each other. Here, the terms “left-hand”and “right-hand” refer to the arrangement of the side walls adjoiningthe door, as seen in the direction of the door.

In one exemplary embodiment, the front of the guide rail comprises afront stop that prevents the door hinge from being pulled out of thefront of the guide rail. The term “front stop” refers to any shape ofthe front that provides a resistance against the door hinge being pulledout. A front stop can be, for example, a vertically arranged piece ofmetal. In another embodiment, the front stop can also be a screwprojecting from the side wall. In another embodiment, the guide rail hasa rear stop in the rear part in order to prevent the door hinge frombeing pulled out of the rear of the guide rail. The same explanations asfor the front stop apply to the rear stop. The rear stop may bepositioned in the guide rail in such a way that the door can only beslid so far into the guide rail that, when containers are placed next toeach other, the opened doors—after they have been slid along the sidewalls—can only be slid so deep into the guide rail that the doors can bepulled out of the guide rails again without a need to first push thecontainers apart. This would call for unwanted extra work. The rear stopshould preferably be situated one door's width behind the front edge ofthe side wall, preferably one door's width minus 5 centimeters behindthe front edge of the side wall, in order to further simplify theoperation of the door. The front edge of the side wall is the part ofthe side wall that, as seen from the outside in the direction of thedoor of the container, is the closest to the observer. According to anexemplary embodiment of the present invention, the person skilled in theart can consider different front stops and/or rear stops. In oneexemplary embodiment, the rear stop is a second hole or a seconddepression into which the pin of the door hinge engages vertically. Asan alternative, another stop can be arranged behind the second hole orthe second depression. The second hole or the second depression allowsthe door to be affixed at this position in the guide rail.

In one exemplary embodiment, the guide rail comprises an essentiallyU-shaped profile as the bottom part, and a strip projecting essentiallyvertically from the side wall as the top part. The part of the guiderail that faces the floor on which the container has been placed isreferred to as the bottom part. Accordingly, the part of the guide railthat faces in the opposite direction is referred to as the top part. Theterm an essentially U-shaped profile refers to all profile shapes thathave a bottom part and two legs of any desired shape that extend awayfrom the floor in the same direction. Here, the term “in the samedirection” relates not only to legs arranged in parallel but also tolegs that diverge from the bottom of the profile at an angle to eachother. In a preferred embodiment, the U-shaped profile corresponds to aU-shape. The top part of the guide rail is meant to prevent the doorfrom slipping out of the guide rail and, at the same time, to allow thedoor to slide more easily in the guide rail. Thus, the distance of thetop part is adapted to the length of the vertical pin of the door hinge.Preferably, the distance between the top part of the guide rail and itsbottom part is a few millimeters greater than the length of the verticalpin that engages into the first hole or into the first depression. Here,the top part can be configured, for example, as a strip that is eitherattached directly to the side wall or that forms a one-piece guide railtogether with the bottom part. This strip may be desirably arrangedessentially vertically (perpendicularly) to the side wall so as toprevent the door from slipping out upwards, whereby the term“essentially” allows a deviation of the orientation by a few degreesfrom a vertical line relative to the side wall. The term “strip”comprises all shapes that prevent the door hinge from slipping upwardsout of the guide rail. Thus, the strip can also be shaped as an anglebracket. In an alternative exemplary embodiment, the guide railcomprises an essentially U-shaped profile as the top part, and a stripprojecting essentially vertically from the side wall as the bottom part.In one exemplary embodiment, the sliding guide is configured in such away that it engages into the U-shaped profile and slides on the outeredge of the U-shaped profile. The outer edge here is the edge of theguide rail that is furthest away from the side wall in the verticaldirection with respect to the side wall.

In another exemplary embodiment, the sliding guide is configured in theform of at least two angle brackets attached to the inside of the doorat essentially the same height, or else it is configured as an anglerail or rail with a U-shaped profile that is attached essentiallyhorizontally to the inside of the door. As used herein, the term“essentially” means at the same height or else at a different height ofthe angle brackets that only differs by a few millimeters—by less than10 millimeters—in a horizontal orientation that diverges from thehorizontal plane by a few degrees—by less than 10 degrees. An angle railcomprises all kinds of rails that project vertically from the doorsurface or from the door frame. Here, the angle rail can comprise twoadjacent legs or it can be a strip that, after being attached, forms anangle with the door or with the door frame. Thus, a U-shaped rail isadvantageous since it engages into the guide rail and, together with alikewise U-shaped guide rail, prevents the door from rotating away fromthe side wall while it is being slid.

In an exemplary embodiment of the collapsible container, the side wallthat is adjacent to the door has two guide rails, and the door has twodoor hinges for swiveling the door and for sliding the door along theguide rail. Swiveling here refers to the opening and closing of the dooron a pin located in the first hole or in the first depression, wherebythe door is rotated around the vertical axis of rotation of the pin inthe first hole or in the first depression. A door with two door hinges,for example, with a first door hinge on the top part of the door or doorframe, and with a second door hinge on the bottom part of the door ordoor frame, is mounted much more sturdily on the side wall than a doorwith only one door hinge, which is preferably mounted onto the door ordoor frame at a height that is halfway up the door. Doors with twohinges at the top and bottom cannot be bent as easily by loads in thetop and bottom areas as would be the case with doors having only onedoor hinge. Since each door hinge requires a guide rail in order for thedoor to be slid, in the case of two door hinges, there are also twoguide rails on the side wall. Especially in the case of two door hinges,there is a greater risk of tilting, which, in extreme cases, can evencause the door to jam in a tilted position in the absence of furthermeasures to guide the door when it is being slid. This jamming can be sosevere that the door cannot be freed again without tools. The door mighteven be severely damaged in this process, so that its function isimpaired or made completely impossible. Consequently, in order toachieve a flawless and maintenance-free operation of the doors, it isessential to use one or more guide rails (depending on the number ofdoor hinges) and to have a corresponding sliding guide so as to preventtilting of the door.

In another exemplary embodiment of the collapsible container, the firstside wall comprises two doors that are configured as a double-leaf door.As a result, the operation of the doors is simplified since each of thetwo double-leaf doors is smaller than in an embodiment with only onedoor, and thus can be opened and closed more easily in a smaller space.Here, the double-leaf doors can be of the same size or of differentsizes. The double-leaf doors can intermesh when they are closed, whichwould translate into a sturdy joining of the doors when the container isbeing transported. It is advantageous to have double-leaf doors that donot intermesh so that the doors can be opened and/or closed in anydesired order, independently of each other.

In another exemplary embodiment, on the side of the door opposite fromthe door hinges, the door has a first fastening device that is providedin order to join the door to the side wall that is opposite from thedoor hinges, or, in the case of a double-leaf door, said fasteningdevice is provided for joining the one door to the other door of thedouble-leaf door. This fastening device can be any form that is suitablefor joining a door to a side wall or to another door. This fasteningdevice can be, for example, a lock, a door latch, a sliding bolt, a hookor a spring. In an exemplary embodiment, the fastening device isarranged on the top of the door so as to fold away, and comprises aring-shaped protection cap that can be placed over a second fasteningdevice provided for this purpose or that can be placed over the doorframe of the other door of the double-leaf door that is adjacent to saiddoor. The top of the door is the side of the door that is furthest awayfrom the floor of the container. The term “ring-shaped” refers to anykind of protection cap that forms a continuous ring with a hole in themiddle. This ring can be circular or elongated in shape. The shape ofthe protection cap is adapted to the shape of the second fasteningdevice or to the shape of the door frame of the other door of thedouble-leaf door. In an exemplary embodiment, the protection cap isplaced over the top door frame of the other door of the double-leafdoor, whereby the protection cap is shaped to be so elongated that itencloses the top corner of the other door on both sides by a 45°-angle.Depending on the configuration, this angle can also be, for example, 30°or 60°. An angle of 45° may be advantageous angle since the protectioncap is attached sufficiently tightly to the other door and is of amanageable size. In the case of larger and smaller angles, on the onehand, it would not fit as tightly and, on the other hand, the dimensionof the fastening device would be very large for a sufficiently tightfit, and thus it would be difficult to handle. The above-mentionedangles refer to the angle between the protection cap extending over theother door and the vertical line.

In another exemplary embodiment, at least one first locking device isarranged on the side of the door facing the floor, and correspondingly,at least one second locking device is arranged on the floor of thecontainer, whereby the first and second locking devices are configuredin such a way that the door is affixed to the floor when the firstlocking device engages with the second locking device. For example, thefirst and second locking devices may comprise a stud or a tab and acorrespondingly shaped hole to receive the stud or the tab. As analternative, the first and second locking devices can be twointermeshing angle brackets or latches or else combinations such as ahook and eye, or a tongue and groove.

The fastening device, the protection cap and the first and secondlocking devices can be made of any suitable sturdy material. Preferably,they are made of steel, preferably hardened steel and/or stainless steelsuch as high-grade steel or VA steel. As an alternative, they could alsobe made of a composite material that is likewise characterized by itshigh strength and low weight. The fastening device and the first lockingdevice are firmly joined to the door frame, for example, by screwing orby using a welded connection. The second locking device is firmlyattached to the floor, for example, by screws or with a weldedconnection.

The exemplary embodiments described above are merely examples of thepresent invention. Any modifications of the embodiments by a personskilled in the art are likewise encompassed by the scope of protectionof the present invention. Additional details of the invention are shownin the following drawings and in the comprehensive description of theembodiments.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a freight container according to anexemplary embodiment of the present invention with a door held by twodoor hinges in two guide rails;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the freight container from FIG. 1 with adoor pushed in front of the side wall;

FIG. 3 is a cut-away view of a front of a guide rail, with a door thathas been slid and with a sliding guide according to an exemplaryembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a top view of a guide rail, with a door that has been slid anda detailed top view of the front according to an exemplary embodiment ofthe present invention;

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing the inside of a door with sliding guides,including an angle bracket and (b) angle rail; and

FIG. 6 is a diagram of a double-leaf door and floor with fastening andlocking devices, including: (a) a front view and (b) a view from thetop.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF SPECIFIC EMBODIMENTS

FIG. 1 schematically shows a collapsible container according to anexemplary embodiment of the present invention, having a rectangularfloor 1 and, by way of an example, a side wall 2 to which a door 3 isconnected via two door hinges 5, each having a guide rail 4. The doorhinges 5 have a pin 51 at one end so as to engage rotatably into a firsthole 41 or into a first depression 41 in the guide rail 4. The doorhinges 5 likewise have a pin 52 at their other end so as to rotatablyengage in a bushing 53 attached to the door 3, whereby the pin 52 andthe bushing 53 are configured in such a way that the door 3 can rotatearound an axis of rotation 33, with the bushing 53 around the pin 52,and also the pin 51 can rotate around an axis of rotation 54 around thefirst hole 41 or the first depression 41. The side wall 2 shown in thisembodiment has two posts 22. In this embodiment, the door hinge extendsas a rod that is bent multiple times from the pin 52 around the post 22of the side wall 2 on its outside 21 (90° curvature), and then extends afew centimeters beyond the post 22 along the side wall 2. In order toanchor the door hinge 5 in the guide rail 4, the door hinge is onceagain bent downwards by 90° on the outside 21 of the side wall in thedirection of the floor 1, and it engages into the first hole 41 or intothe first depression 41 of the guide rail 4.

The posts 22 in FIG. 1 are mounted using an additional bushing that hasa slot and that is attached to the floor so that said posts can befolded down onto the floor 1 (not shown in detail here). For the sake ofclarity, the other side walls were omitted in this drawing. Of course,the side walls surround the container completely, so that the floor andthe side walls encompass a transport volume that is enclosed on allsides. In another embodiment, the container can also be closed using alid that is attached to the side walls or that can be pulled down overthe side walls.

FIG. 2 schematically shows the same container as in FIG. 1, whereby herethe door 3 has been slid in front of the side wall 2.

FIG. 3 shows the front 45 of the guide rail 4 mounted onto the outside21 of the side wall 2. In this embodiment, the guide rail 4 has aU-shaped bottom part 49 and a rail-shaped top part 48 as a cover of theguide rail 4, so as to prevent the door hinge 5 from slipping out of theguide rail 4. The front 45 comprises a slit-like vertical cutout 46 forinserting the sliding guide 7, 71, 72 into the guide rail 4 when thedoor is being slid along the guide rail 4. Moreover, the front 45 has afront stop 43 so that the door hinge 5 cannot be pulled out of the frontof the guide rail 4. The sliding guide 7, 71, 72 here engages into theU-shaped bottom part 49 of the guide rail 4 in such a way that, on theone hand, the door is secured by the horizontal leg of the sliding guidethat rests on the U-shaped bottom part so that said door does not tiltwhen it is being slid and, on the other hand, the door 3 is securedagainst swiveling by the vertical leg of the sliding guide that isguided by the upright leg of the U-shaped bottom part 49.

FIG. 4 shows a top view of the front part of bottom part 49 of the guiderail 4, whereby the top part 48 of the guide rail has been omitted forthe sake of clarity. The door is slid at a minimal distance from theguide rail 4 and thus from the outside of the side wall along the guiderail. Here, the sliding guide 7 is configured as two angle brackets 71at a suitable distance from each other. The greater the distance of theangle brackets, the more securely they prevent tilting of the door 3.The door hinge is rotatably mounted on the bushing 53 and, in thisembodiment, it projects beyond the outside 31 of the door 3. In FIG. 4,the door 3 is in its final position after being slid, since here, thedoor hinge 5 passes through the second hole or through the seconddepression as the rear stop 44, as a result of which it is affixed inthis position. A fixation in the final position is important when thecontainer needs to be collapsed. In order for the doors not to bedamaged when they are collapsed, they first have to be moved into thefinal position in front of the side walls 2 and affixed in this positionusing the rear stop 44. Optionally, another rear stop 44 can be arrangedbehind the second hole or behind the second depression in order toprevent the door from being pulled out via the rear of the guide rail.

In FIG. 4, an enlarged depiction of the front 45 of the guide rail 4 isalso shown. In order to better insert the sliding guide 7 into the guiderail 4, the cutout 46 is provided with struts 47 that guide the slidingguide 7 into the cutout 46.

FIG. 5 shows the inside 32 of the door 3 with the sliding guides 7 thatare configured (a) as an angle bracket 71, and (b) as an angle rail 72.The two door hinges are not shown here, but rather are symbolicallyindicated by the corresponding bushings 53. The angle brackets 71 arearranged at the same height for each of the two guide rails.Accordingly, the angle rails 72 are arranged horizontally.

FIG. 6 shows (a) two doors 3 of a double-leaf door as the first sidewall in a front view. The outsides of the doors can be seen above thebushings 53 for the door hinges 5. The door sides of the two doorsfacing each other are firmly joined to each other by a fastening device8. Here, the one door is securely joined to the other door by thefastening device 8 that is attached to said door in such a way as tofold down and that comprises a ring-shaped protection cap 81 that ispulled down over the door frame of the other door 3. FIG. 6 (b) shows atop view of the fastening device 8 in the closed state. Here, one cansee how the ring-shaped protection cap 81 extends around the door 3 oraround the door frame of the door 3, thereby firmly joining the twodoors to each other. This fastening approach is characterized by itshigh stability and, at the same time, easy and quick handling. In orderto further increase the stability of the doors 3 in the closed state,the doors are additionally joined to the floor using first and secondlocking devices 91, 92 that engage with each other and are each arrangedon the bottom of the door 3 and on the floor 1.

The exemplary embodiments shown here merely constitute examples of thepresent invention and therefore, they must not be construed in alimiting manner. Alternative embodiments taken into consideration by theperson skilled in the art are likewise encompassed by the scope ofprotection of the present invention.

1. A collapsible container for transporting goods, comprising: a floor;and a plurality of side walls adjacent to the floor, the plurality ofside walls and the floor encompassing a transport volume that is definedin the set-up state by the top of the floor, and by the insides of theside walls, whereby at least one first side wall has at least one doorfor loading and unloading the container, at least one side wall adjacentto the door, and at least one guide rail being arranged essentiallyhorizontally for swiveling the door and for sliding the door along theguide rail, whereby the door engages vertically via a pin into a firsthole or into a first depression in the guide rail on one door hinge perguide rail so as to swivel, and the guide rail is configured in such away that, by lifting the door, the pin being removable from the firsthole or from the first depression without allowing the door hinge to beremoved from the guide rail, and in this state, the door sliding alongthe guide rail parallel to the side wall, so that the inside of the doorfaces the outside of the side wall, so that the door hinge is alsoattached so as to rotate around a vertical axis of rotation, and so thatthe guide rail has a cutout on the front, preferably a vertical slot,through which a sliding guide installed on the inside of the doorengages into the guide rail, and the sliding guide is guided by theguide rail during the further movement.
 2. The collapsible containerrecited in claim 1, in which the front of the guide rail comprises afront stop that prevents the door hinge from being pulled out of thefront of the guide rail.
 3. The collapsible container recited in claim1, in which the guide rail has a rear stop in the rear part in order toprevent the door hinge from being pulled out of the rear of the guiderail.
 4. The collapsible container recited in claim 3, in which the rearstop includes a second hole or a second depression into which the pin ofthe door hinge engages vertically.
 5. The collapsible container recitedin claim 1, in which the cutout widens in the direction of the front. 6.The collapsible container recited in claim 1, in which the guide railcomprises an essentially U-shaped profile as the bottom part, and astrip projecting essentially vertically from the side wall as the toppart.
 7. The collapsible container recited in claim 6, in which thesliding guide engages into the U-shaped profile and slides on the outeredge of the U-shaped profile.
 8. The collapsible container recited inclaim 1, in which the guide rail comprises an essentially U-shapedprofile as the top part, and a strip projecting essentially verticallyfrom the side wall as the bottom part.
 9. The collapsible containerrecited in claim 1, in which the sliding guide comprises at least twoangle brackets arranged essentially at the same height on the inside ofthe door or as an angle rail or rail having a U-shaped profile andattached essentially horizontally to the inside of the door.
 10. Thecollapsible container recited in claim 1, in which the door hinge isrotatably mounted on the door as a vertical pin in a bushing that isattached to the door and that has an inner diameter that is adapted tothe pin, whereby the pin is configured in such a way that it is affixedto the bushing in the vertical direction.
 11. The collapsible containerrecited in claim 1, in which the side wall that is adjacent to the doorcomprises two guide rails, and the door comprises two door hinges forswiveling the door and for sliding the door along the guide rail. 12.The collapsible container recited in claim 1, in which the first sidewall comprises two doors that are configured as a double-leaf door. 13.The collapsible container recited in claim 1, in which, on the side ofthe door opposite from the door hinges, the door has a first fasteningdevice that is provided in order to join the door to the side wall thatis opposite from the door hinges, or, in the case of a double-leaf door,the fastening device is provided for joining the door to the other doorof the double-leaf door.
 14. The collapsible container recited in claim13, in which the fastening device is arranged on the top of the door soas to fold down, and comprises a ring-shaped protection cap that can beplaced over a second fastening device provided for this purpose or thatcan be placed over the door frame of the other door of the double-leafdoor that is adjacent to the door.
 15. The collapsible container recitedin claim 1, in which at least one first locking device is arranged onthe side of the door facing the floor, and correspondingly, at least onesecond locking device is arranged on the floor of the container, wherebythe first and second locking devices are configured in such a way thatthe door is affixed to the floor when the first locking device engageswith the second locking device.